pecos wilderness

[championbaum]

Hey guys here are some pictures from a 9 day trip in the pecos wilderness way back in july. I have been suddenly busy at work and haven't had much time, but better late i suppose.


The dog at Lake Katherin, i took a small fishing pole i bought from backpacking light i believe, and caught several trout.


Another of lake katherin from the opposite side. pretty spectacular.


spirit lake.


tastey tastey trout.

[championbaum]

a really great ridge...i think its called ridgerunners ridge or ridgeriders ridge or something.


An attack ram who pushed me into pecos baldy lake and ate my noodles! really.


Lake truchas.


camp near beatty's flats.

[championbaum]

This trip ruined me even more than i am already ruined. Since I have gotten back all I want to do is walk around in the wilderness. It was great. For any interested the best fishing was at Johnson Lake and the small stream through Horsethief Meadow. The best campgrounds were at Horsethief Meadows and the one on the very edge of Beatty's Flats. These campgrounds were magic. Literally. I felt like I have never felt before. Absolutely content. I rambled all throughout the are and visited every lake except one....and the name is trampas lake i believe.. There were no trail connections to get there and i would have had to walk along the razor edge of the Truchas Peaks to get to it, which is entirely possible, but I was worried my dog would have fallen to his doom, and since he is my only friend i decided to skip that lake. I made it to every other lake though, and had an incredible time, despite a crazed man threatening to shoot my dog and me. Even the imminent threat of death couldn't bring me down, and i lived for 9 days in a state of mania. I went 3 days without seeing another soul on the east side of the park. this was enlightening somehow. I fished every lake and stream, and although I didn't catch a fish in every one, i had a blast trying.

Salmon eggs are innefective, except in streams. They seam to work there, but in lakes it is all about the flies, and since i didn't have any i caught moths and dragonflies, and used a pinecone for a floater. I caught a few fish in this manner. the grouse were huge, the size of chickens. There were rams at several lakes, and they didn't mess around. They stole noodles my noodles. i din't see a bear, and have never seen a bear but that is ok i guess. Most of the fish in the lakes were too smart for me, and the water was so clear i had to hide behind greass to even have a chance of catching them. i don't know how many miles i hiked, but there was enough trail that i could have walked all i wanted to.

On a side note i am looking for a jeep, so i can take some of the roads in BiBe, and BBRSP so if you guys no of any for sell sen me a message, i am looking to spend about 10 -12 grand and would rather get one with lower miles so i dont have to worry about road trips too much.

[trtlrock]

An attack ram who pushed me into pecos baldy lake and ate my noodles! really.


Ummm...we need to hear more detail about this incident!

Nice pics.

[Ay Chihuahua!]

An attack ram who pushed me into pecos baldy lake and ate my noodles! really.


Ummm...we need to hear more detail about this incident!

Nice pics.

trtlrock is correct. It is completely unacceptable to bring up a noodle-eating ram with a bad attitude and not expound upon it. Give us the goods, man.

[championbaum]

Ha it was frightening really. These rams were large, i saw them across the lake and they disapeared. A while later as my dog and i were getting lunch ready i heard what sounded like rocks falling behind me. This occured for a few minutes and when i finally turned around there was a huge ram, i would guess 200 lbs at least, not 10 inches from my face. He was balanced on a small boulder with his head lowered looking down at me. I immediately jumped up, and noticed there were at least 20 rams around. i was in a small cove along the lake shore and i would have either had to leap over the ram or jump in the water. My dog was too tired to move and just watched through one eye without even raising his head. i was letting my noodles cool, and i guess people feed these things because he expected something to eat i could tell. I had nothing i was willing to share. I stood there for a few seconds wondering if rams were friendly, or ferocious killing machines, i really had no idea. I knew people hunted rams, and i thought maybe people hunted them because they were viscious human destroying demonesque creatures straight from the depths of hell. he ended up seeming friendly enough, but i didn't want him stooping over me while i ate so i backed up as much as i could and picked up a rock, well he climbed of his boulder, and it was his boulder, and he was on the lake shore. there was only a few feet of space and so i tossed my rock at him. he didn't care, and gave me a small but sollid shove. it wasn't like i flew into the lake or anything, but i did land on my behind in the few feet of water behind me. it was snowmealt and cold. he took this opportunity to knock my cooling noodles over and slurpped up as much as he could. my dog finally motivated himself enough to get up, and bark intimidatingly at the ram, which made him pause, but he proceeded to eat my noodles, i proceeded to sit in the frigid water, and my dog layed back down. Luckily i mostly packed my bag so grapped it along with my pot and scurried down the shore, in thigh high water to get around the other rams and called my lazy dog to follow. on the way out i saw some horse packers feeding the rams by hand, so i guess this is what they expected. at least it wasn't a bear. i fealt like i was in the great outdoors film or something, it was funny in retrospect.

[bjbriggs]

Good Photo's and enjoyed your story about the attack ram

[trtlrock]

Ha it was frightening really. These rams were large, i saw them across the lake and they disapeared. A while later as my dog and i were getting lunch ready i heard what sounded like rocks falling behind me. This occured for a few minutes and when i finally turned around there was a huge ram, i would guess 200 lbs at least, not 10 inches from my face. He was balanced on a small boulder with his head lowered looking down at me. I immediately jumped up, and noticed there were at least 20 rams around. i was in a small cove along the lake shore and i would have either had to leap over the ram or jump in the water. My dog was too tired to move and just watched through one eye without even raising his head. i was letting my noodles cool, and i guess people feed these things because he expected something to eat i could tell. I had nothing i was willing to share. I stood there for a few seconds wondering if rams were friendly, or ferocious killing machines, i really had no idea. I knew people hunted rams, and i thought maybe people hunted them because they were viscious human destroying demonesque creatures straight from the depths of hell. he ended up seeming friendly enough, but i didn't want him stooping over me while i ate so i backed up as much as i could and picked up a rock, well he climbed of his boulder, and it was his boulder, and he was on the lake shore. there was only a few feet of space and so i tossed my rock at him. he didn't care, and gave me a small but sollid shove. it wasn't like i flew into the lake or anything, but i did land on my behind in the few feet of water behind me. it was snowmealt and cold. he took this opportunity to knock my cooling noodles over and slurpped up as much as he could. my dog finally motivated himself enough to get up, and bark intimidatingly at the ram, which made him pause, but he proceeded to eat my noodles, i proceeded to sit in the frigid water, and my dog layed back down. Luckily i mostly packed my bag so grapped it along with my pot and scurried down the shore, in thigh high water to get around the other rams and called my lazy dog to follow. on the way out i saw some horse packers feeding the rams by hand, so i guess this is what they expected. at least it wasn't a bear. i fealt like i was in the great outdoors film or something, it was funny in retrospect.

I can't even breathe I'm laughing so hard...

You sure you're not embellishing a bit?

 

[TexasAggieHiker]

That's an AWESOME story.  And this boys and girls, is why you don't feed wildlife!

[homerboy2u]

Where are these amazing lakes?...awsome report and great Ram infiltrating tactics too. Ihave never seen a Ram that close before.

[SA Bill]

That's an AWESOME story.  And this boys and girls, is why you don't feed wildlife!

True!! Also.....you need a new dog champ!   
   Bill

[championbaum]

that is exactly how i remember the situation. i remember sitting in the lake looking at the ram eating my lunch and looking at my dog thinking "what the hell is going on, this is unreal." i was legitimately terrified. i couldn't believe my very viscious looking dog was unwilling to help. he is old though, and i was running him pretty ragged so that was his passive aggressive revenge. you would have been laughing harder if you had seen me scampering away feeling dejected, from mostly harmless animals. The group of people feeding them i saw later included toddlers. the next lake i visited with rams present my dog did do his job and keep them at bay, so he redeemed himself.

the lakes are all throughout the pecos wilderness in northern new mexico homerboy. my family reunion is in terrero up there so i stopped by and then took off. it is an awesome area and not really well known relative to other large wilderness areas, at least not in the backcountry. and if your not fond of walking you can ride horses all throughout i think.

[mountaindocdanny]

While not necessarily "vicious creatures" bighorn sheep are something to respect. They are very strong and the rams skulls and horns are capable of packing quite a bit of punishment. They can certainly get quite "friendly" in the Pecos, although yours is the first story I've heard of them actually bumping someone. Great trip reprot and photos.

[jeffblaylock]

Rams are definitely creatures to respect. I had a standoff with one on a rocky trail in Glacier NP, lasting about 15 minutes. There are two tricks, I am told, in dealing with this kind of animal on the trail. The first is, don't look it directly in the eye. This is a show of strength and likely to raise its determination to hold its ground (This tip works with most animals, especially if they feel confronted or surprised.).

The second is counter-intuitive to the first but really is a matter of safety. The human should not yield the trail to the ram. It is the ram, and not the human, which is gifted by Nature to traverse steep, rocky cliff faces. Many encounters with rams will occur in places where the human cannot safely move off the trail. So the human has to hold its ground and, essentially, out-wait the ram (I have this mental picture of a children's story, Dr. Seuss I think, where these two humanoid characters refuse to yield to each other and stand, face to face, as the seasons change.). If there is more than one of you humans, link arms and slowly shuffle forward, without making eye contact, and this will encourage the ram to yield. Their typical movement will be uphill:

[sleepy]

we just got back from the Pecos ourselves.  A great trip through the wilderness.  We missed the rams at Truchas, though.

That is Trailriders' Wall of which you speak.  Around 11,000 feet and about 2+ miles with incredible views in every direction.

We camped at Horsethief Meadows, as well.  A sweet spot for sure, even if we missed the blanket of flowers that were in bloom a month earlier.  I saw a trout in that stream playing hide and seek.

great pics and stories.